My Greatest Joy!

Yesterday we had a family photo shoot and I am in love with the sneak peek I was given by Sharee Jones our photographer!

I just had to share this picture of my handsome boys! I love them all so much and each one makes up a unique part of our family! 

Happy Sunday!

 

My December in review!

So I finally decided that I needed to get back on my blog and when I did I was horrified to find that I haven't blogged since October! YIKES!! I have even lost some followers because of it I'm sure.  So, I'm going to fill you all in on what has been happening these past 2 months.  

I suddenly became quite busy in November with 4 quilts, 2 of which I was commissioned to make from scratch not just quilt them. Well, for those who may have forgotten, I was very pregnant and it was a challenge to do all that I needed to do on top of the quilts.  

Well, the end of November came and I suddenly found myself on bed rest to prevent early labor. Just a side note, my due date was January 23 (notice I said was).  ANYHOW, one week later I ended up in the hospital in labor. Our littlest one came into our lives on December 4, 2012! That, my friends, is 7 weeks early! So, instead of even thinking about sewing or my blog or anything I found myself driving 25 minutes each day to the hospital to sit and stare at my baby. I was only able to spend 2 hours a day with him because we have other children. This was a difficult time. Another kink in the month was I still needed to finish the two BQ3 quilts and send them off before Christmas!

How about some stress? Well, I did finish those quilts and they will be posted tomorrow...wait til you see them....they turned out gorgeous!! Sadly, I was in such a hurry to get them out I forgot to photograph them bound and finished. Duh. Oh well...

I thought I might share some pictures with you all from this past month. Hope you don't mind, but there won't be many quilting related pictures, but I wanted to show off our new little love!

The above picture he is bigger than what he appears. He was 5 lbs 4 oz and 18 inches long.

This was a hard time for me.  I didn't get to hold him until he was a week old.

This was even harder for me because the ventilator made it so he couldn't cry or make sounds....I cried a lot. But it helped his lungs finish developing.

I finally got to hold my bundle of joy. Here he was 1 week old.

We just stared at each other for about an hour.

Proud daddy!

Finally off all the oxygen. This cap he has on was a preemie size and is now too small, but just to give you an idea of his size.

Finally the day he came home! December 23rd!! It was the best Christmas present ever!

 And this was last week! Love him!!!

What did you do this December? :) Thanks for sticking with me....let's start 2013 off with a bang and start sewing!

One memory quilt finished....

But let me start from the beginning.....my grandpa past away in December and after living 91 years on this earth, he had accumulated a LOT of stuff.....I took a ton of his shirts and pants so that I could make quilts for some family members......I cut 9.5" squares from each shirt as you see here:

Next I took a shirt he had that was white and red checked and cut up 2.5" squares (this shirt reminded me of his table cloth that he ALWAYS had on his table for as long as I can remember) And the white squares are a pair of painters pants. (he was a painter)

 

For the sashing I used his jeans....this looks awesome but is WAY hard to keep it flat when quilting....but it's SO grandpa!

Before I get to the quilting of this first one, I have to tell you that all the cutting above and ironing on of the interfacing took a LONG time! And, since my grandpa smoked since he was 12, my iron is kind of ruined from the tar....but, it was a good cause....right?

This photo I'm about to show you is pretty cool I think. I just did a basic stipple because I had to make sure the puckers weren't too bad. This picture is awesome though, because if you look at the solid blue square you'll see paint....this was from a sweatshirt he used to wear while working.....cool huh?

Here it is finished...almost, just need to sew on the binding.

Here is the front of this quilt. This one is for my cousin who took care of my grandpa the last 12 years because he was the only one that lived in the same town. Something special for one of my favorite cousins! :)

I have a few more to make, but they will come along slowly because I really wanted to finish this one for my cousin. What do you think?

Unique Valentine's Gifts

 This year for Valentine's Day we did our usual and stayed home for a fabulous Flank Steak dinner with salad and baked potato. It was wonderful and just as tasty as ever. 

For gifts this year, my husband and I got a little creative.....and let me tell you it turned out to be so much fun!

First, I have to tell you about his gift to me......there is a story behind it. He got me a Cotton Candy Maker....I love cotton candy and the story is about 12 years ago we were in our first house and he went out to buy me one, but they had recalled all of them because of a fire hazard. uh, yeah. So, that was a no go.......he came home tonight and said to me that he has wanted to get me one for years! He never forgot about that first attempt. 

So, we had to break it out and see if it really worked! :) He got the kind that makes cotton candy from the sugar mixes and from hard candies!!! Imagine......putting a couple Worther's candies in there and having a handful of cotton candy out of it! I'm totally drooling!! But, we only had peppermint candies so we tried it....

And it WORKED!!!

 After we realized it worked we were in search of any other hard candy in the house (not much) but we came across some dum dum suckers and smashed them off the sticks. We had cotton candy that tasted like sour green apples and strawberry orange! It was divine! 

I'm going to the store tomorrow! hahaha!!

 Next, I was on the internet one night and came across something FABULOUS!!! HERE they had some rather unique gift ideas and I found this great gift! You can customize the picture with your names and a date.....It looks like our names are carved into the tree! I put our wedding date on it too! They have the sand on the beach too but for us, we are campers and these trees reminded me of our favorite camping and fishing spot! It was an obvious choice! He LOVED it!!! He even said it reminded him of our favorite spot too! So, it was a great idea. I'm hanging it in our room so we can enjoy it. :)

Not only that, but look how it came!! It was delivered with matte, glass, and frame all for a very good price! It also comes in many sizes and in black and white too!

Hope your Valentines was happy! 

Our Lovely Nativity

Today, is the last day of Nativities for this blog this year....unless I find one and add it to my collection. This one I purchased 13 years ago when we were pretty poor. We had a 9 month old (who is now almost 15~ yikes!) and we spent all our alloted Christmas Decoration money on this puppy (oh and an angel for the tree which we still have). I went to some House of Lloyd part and this was what I wanted. I love this set because it looks so similar to the one my parents have and it reminds me of Christmas as a kid. The manger is almost the same too...it's really uncanny how close they are.

If my mom has hers up I will take a picture or two of it this weekend since we will be seeing her.

I love Mary and Joseph because they look as though they are truely humble to be in the presence of the Christ. It makes me happy to put this up every year.

The only thing this set didn't come with an angel, but other than that I love it.

I have been able to keep it safe all these years by putting it up high so no little hands could break these figures. It's still risky with my almost 15 year old autisic son who can reach them, but he seems to leave them untouched....his thing are the lights on the tree. :)

And there you have it....a week of Nativity!

Thanks for coming along for the journey.

Gifted from Family

For my post today I have two from her collection. They are both completely different and lovely as well. The first one has the word PEACE with C enlarged to represent Christ who is the reason for the season. I LOVE this one and I hope to get one like this someday! This one was given to her by her Brother Johnny and his lovely wife Sue.

This one was given to her by her sister in law Lana who made it for her I believe. I love the candles next to it because it almost represents the three wisemen.

We are now at the end of her collection, tomorrow I will show you mine....

Homemade Nativity

This Nativity was made by one of my nieces for her Grandma. Each piece is a very small flower pot painted and upside down. They are too cute and give a rustic feel to the set.

Homemade is sometimes the most special!

Mini Nativities....

Today's post is going to be all the miniature Nativities that my mom in law owns. They are all so cute and there really isn't any special story about them, only that she has collected them over the years. I think they are all so precious and each has a unique look and feel to it.

This one is so sweet. I love the little lamb, I think he is my favorite part about this set.

This one is sweet with the angel holding a heart.

This one has several pieces and looks like it could be from Germany, but she can't remember where she bought this one. I love how they all have a softer look and feel to them.

The set is attached inside the Manger that has a lid on it for packing. I have to admit that this little lamb is so precious too! Look how he looks up at Joseph. 

Very eastern European and oh so small.

This one is so precious and delicate. I love the simplicity of it.

Each one of these is no bigger than 6 inches high. It's very fun to see them scattered throughout the house this time of year.

A little bit of Taiwan

This Nativity was purchased in Taiwan.....and I have to clarify something, the Nativity from Monday I had said it was purchased in Hong Kong but was actually purchased at the same place this one was purchased. So, it was from TAIWAN... :) Now, to get on with this post, this precious Nativity was purchased at a place called St. Josephs and she bought this to send home to her parents. My in laws were living in Hong Kong for 3 years at the time and this was a gift for them. After her mom and dad passed on she inherited. This lovely set came with the Manger unlike the larger set.

Fun memories.

Handmade Glass Nativity

Okay, this one is a little hard to see and for that I want to apologize. As you can see it is made of glass and my mother in law made it herself. She bought and etching kit and etched the pattern on the glass. She even told me that she would help me make one too! (BONUS!) It's put up high so all the great grandbabies don't break it. It's very cool!

I'm feeling festive.....time to make some more quilts for gifts.

More to come.....

South of the Border Nativity

Our family travels for many reasons...I have a nephew that returned home from serving a mission for our church in Mexico and what do you think he brought home? A Nativity for his Grandma! I think it is SO cute and very authentic! I love the bright colors and how each one of them is hand painted. Love the halos over the Virgin Mary and the Angel....I think the baby Jesus should have one too, but that's just me. :)

I'm getting the itch to start a collection of my own......I'm definitely buying one when I go back to Italy.

Oh the wheels are turning now....

The Nativity My Husband Remembers....

This gorgeous Nativity was purchased in Hong Kong in 1970. (In case you were wondering, they lived in Hong Kong for several years.) Each piece was individually picked out and made into a set by my in-laws. The cool thing about this one is they used to display them on the fireplace and string up lights for the star and the angel to hang. My husband remembers them on the fireplace every Christmas growing up. The Manger is a new edition, she found it at Costco a few years ago and it was the perfect size for the pieces.....it was meant for them!

Here is another view of this gorgeous set.

Isn't this manger fantastic? And Mary and Joseph with baby Jesus just warms my heart!

Wonderful memories...

Hong Kong Nativity

Have you ever gone to a foreign country and seen something just fantastic; so fanstastic that you knew that you just couldn't leave without it? Well, my mother in law purchased this beautiful Nativity in Hong Kong and she loved it so much she bought each of her kids (and their spouses) one too. This set is carved out of wood and is so intricate and detailed that I just stare at it everytime I put it out. This one that is in the picture is my mom in laws, but we have one too...just won't be showing you all mine because it's the same.

My favorite part of this Nativity are the trees. They are AMAZING!

Doesn't it just make you drool?

61 Years Ago...

This Nativity is really cool. My mom in law bought this when she was 16 years old. So, this lovely has lasted over 61 years! Not bad eh? She said that when she brought it home this was the Nativity the family used each year until she was married. Some of the pieces are ceramic and others are rubber. She said she had to pick each piece out individually to make a full set. Kind of interesting I thought. It's displayed up high to keep any little fingers from playing with it. :)

Do you have any Christmas Decorations that have been handed down through the years?

Nativity from Italy

This gorgeous Nativity is from Bolzano Italy where everything is in Italian and German. My husband bought this for his mom when he was in Italy and sent it home to her. Our boys loved watching it go with the flames from the candles. It is all wood and hand crafted. This was added to her collection during the Winter of 1995. It's so lovely.

Here is the little manger scene up close....I didn't get a great shot of it though and I'm sorry for that, but it is a fun one to look at.

Until tomorrow.....

Nativity Love

For December I thought I would do something different. The other day, we went over to my inlaws to help them put up all their Christmas Decorations and I was excited to find out that she collects Nativity sets. :) Now, how cool is that?! So, each day for the next 17 days or so, I am going to blog about each one and share them with you. Each has a special story, some more interesting than others, but none the less very fun. This blog post is going to show you one of my Nativity sets. I have 3. I love this one because it is a music globe as well. The bottom part where the little people and animals are standing rotates around and on the other side is a village on a hill.

I will start the blogfest off with my Nativity and will end it with mine. All of the ones in between are my mom in laws. Enjoy and let me know what you think of each one. Do you have a special Nativity you love to set up each Christmas?

Tis the Season!

Christmas Tree decorating is the highlight of the season. And for a five year old.....it's almost impossible to contain himself! He had been begging to put up the decorations and the tree since about a week before Thanksgiving.

On Friday, after all the Black Friday Shopping, we pulled out all the decorations and started to transform the house. It's a festive scene now for sure....

Here are some highlights of the tree decorating.....

I love lots of lights!

This next photo is awesome because he never decorates and we got him to put one on the tree this year!

And you can see the sheer joy on his face! Christmas is upon us!

What do you do to get Christmas started?